Business Blog

Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith and Democrat Joel Gill give their civil but candid pitches for the post of Mississippi agriculture commissioner.

The hot, dry weather has the state’s reeling timber industry in a catch-22 situation. The drought has left Mississippi’s pine trees stressed and vulnerable to attack from pine bark beetles, including the highly destructive Southern pine beetle. The best defense against the pests is to thin tree stands. However, landowners are hesitant to thin their [...]

Opponents of genetically engineered (GE) crops maintain that human consumption of these products poses a risk to public health. Now, three environmental groups have brought a lawsuit against the federal government contending that genetically modified crops are not fit for even wildlife to consume and do harm to habitat. But while the two sides argue [...]

Mississippi rice farmers can start lining up for money from a recent $750-million, multi-state settlement with Bayer CropScience involving the accidental release of genetically modified rice in the U.S. food chain that negatively impacted sales to foreign markets. But while the settlement is welcome relief, some rice producers are expressing regret that the case ever [...]

By Wally Northway The state has just lost an important weapon in its all-out war against cogongrass, which poses a threat to the economy, environment and even public safety. The loss of a federal assistance program could not have come at a worse time, and now some experts believe the non-native, invasive weed is winning [...]

Reeling dairy industry faces more challenges South Mississippi’s dairy farmers are seeing the best milk prices in the history of the industry, but even that might not be enough to stop the steady, massive decline in dairy operations seen in the state. “It is as bad as I’ve ever seen it,” said Alan “Pud” Stringer, [...]

Outgoing agriculture commissioner Lester Spell on who should replace him and his favorite Kirk Fordice story.